No big Bollywood releases early next year!

By Hindustan Times

It’s no big New Year for Bollywood. The first quarter of 2013 will see very few big banner releases as producers prefer to keep them for holidays and festivals, and industry experts say this may in turn help small but strong films hit the jackpot.

“Only about Rs. 200 crore is riding on the first quarter,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan. This, compared to more than its double riding in the last quarter of 2012. “Big stars today depend on festivals and extended weekends to release their films as they want to mint maximum money. That is why most big-ticket releases are concentrated around Diwali and Eid, and other times such as the first quarter go dry. Race 2 is also releasing because it’s a national holiday on January 26,” says film expert Vikas Mohan. While Salman Khan is known to release his films on Eid, Shah Rukh prefers Diwali. Even Aamir goes for Christmas. Film expert Rajeev Masand says, “I think we should be ready for some surprises. Last year in this period we saw how Paan Singh Tomar and Kahaani, which were small budget films, did fabulous business.”